Residency

Mission and History

AIRIE’s purpose is to inform, connect, and support artists, writers and musicians who wish to be ambassadors for the Everglades by providing month-long residencies in the Park. Spanning the southern tip of the Florida peninsula and most of Florida Bay, Everglades National Park is the only subtropical wilderness in North America. It is known for its rich wildlife, particularly large wading birds, and it is the only place in the world where bothalligators and crocodiles coexist.

AIRIE was founded in 2001 when the $8 billion Everglades restoration bill had been passed by the U. S. Congress. Since then, with the full cooperation of Everglades National Park, AIRIE has hosted more than 100 artists, writers, choreographers and musicians as artists-in-residence in the Everglades.

AIRIE cooperates with Everglades National Park’s Volunteers-in-Parks program to manage the residency. Since 2009, AIRIE has been incorporated as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization with the sole mission of supporting the Artists in Residence in Everglades program at Everglades National Park through fundraising and producing special projects. The Park provides administrative staff (Board Members and Rangers co-administer the program), a live-work space in the Pine Island area, and access to the Everglades’ 1.5 million acres. AIRIE coordinates the selection process and special events or opportunities for AIRIE Fellows.

Who’s eligible?

A National Park residency isn’t for everybody. It is for serious professionals who wish to work alone and unfettered in the challenge and beauty of the American wilderness. It is for those who deeply care about the environment and wish to contribute to it as well as benefit from it. The park can accommodate one resident per month.

AIRIE invites visual artists, scholars, composers and writers to seek both solitude and solidarity in the inspiring environment of Everglades National Park. Artists are provided a furnished apartment for the length of the residency, usually four weeks. Visual arts include painting, sculpture, photography, installation and video. Writers include poets and authors of fiction, creative non-fiction and creative journalism. Composers, musicians, dancers and performance artists are welcome to apply. Work submitted should be of professional quality. No student work will be eligible.

Proposals that incorporate the following will be preferred:

· environmental awareness

· resonance with AIRIE and the Park’s missions

What is expected of the resident during the residency?

Artists are expected to spend time exploring, learning about and responding to the dynamic qualities of Everglades National Park.

Artists are required to respect Park RESTRICTIONS: they should not bring natural, organic materials to the Park, should not use organic materials from the Park in creating work, and should not remove any natural materials from the Park. Their work must not involve ground disturbances. It is the resident’s responsibility to be informed of Park rules and to follow them.

Interaction with Visitors: Each AIRIE resident is asked to volunteer a few hours to interact with interested Park visitors and staff during the residency. These interactions may take the form of slide lectures, exhibitions, demonstrations, performances, “art walks” equipped with cameras or sketchbooks, or mini-workshops.

What is expected of the resident following the residency?

Each AIRIE Fellow is expected to make an art donation to the Park.

Visual Art Donation: Each artist is required to donate an art work to the Park Collection, no later than SIX months after the residency is completed. The art work should grow out of and reflect the residency and should be representative of the artist’s style. AIRIE is committed to showing artists’ work in high level venues and therefore requests a museum-quality donation, in order to better represent the artist in future AIRIE exhibitions. The artist is expected to provide a high resolution digital image of the donated work and grant the Park the right to reproduce the work.

Literary Donation: The Park requires non-exclusive publication rights to a literary work produced during or following the residency. This work should grow out of and reflect the residency experience. The donation is required within 6 months from the last day of the residency.

Performance Donation: Usually in the form of video or recording, details of the donation will be negotiated with AIRIE and the Park.

Credits for AIRIE: When exhibiting, performing or publishing any work generated during or as a result of an AIRIE residency, it is strongly requested that residents offer press and/or event-based acknowledgment of the role of the residency in generating the work. The credit line should read: “This work was produced following [or during] a residency at Everglades National Park, YEAR, AIRIE.” AIRIE works hard to support and promote its artists in high profile events and exhibitions, and we ask that this effort be reciprocated.

Where you’ll live and what to bring

A furnished apartment, large enough to provide studio space, is available in the Royal Palm area which is near Park Headquarters, the Ernest Coe Visitor Center, the Anhinga Trail. You will be approximately 15 minutes (by car) from the nearest towns of Florida City and Homestead, FL.

Accepted residents will need to bring personal gear, food and supplies. The artist is expected to leave the accommodations neat and clean and to comply with all regulations and standards governing park employees and visitors. The artist should be self-sufficient and also willing to work closely with park staff and the local community to achieve program goals.

Micro grants may be available on a case by case basis determined once an applicant has been selected.

The Everglades has seasons: The dry winter season begins in October and ends in April. The hot, wet summer season also brings mosquitoes.